R&D
Director
About The Position
The Research & Development Director will report directly to the CEO and be responsible for developing and commercializing custom polymer formulations and driving innovation within the company’s growing line of plastic material solutions. This critical role will lead the R&D and Quality Labs at the manufacturing facilities and play an active role in the future development of a corporate innovation center.
This position will play a critical role in the development of custom material recipes for packaging and other high value applications.
Working alongside customers, you will provide hands-on formulations of next generation solutions for market challenges and position the organization as a leader in this emerging technology. You will be seen as the Subject Matter Expert internally & externally and expected to stay informed of related industry advancements.
Primary Responsibilities
- Hands-on formulations to meet market demands and to solve challenges presented by specific applications.
- Identify opportunities and develop new products to proactively commercialize and take to market
- Develop consistent KPI’s across the organization’s lab locations and manage team performance accordingly
- Work with customers on specific applications and create custom formulations to meet product demands
- Manage R&D and Quality Labs and team members
- Work with senior leadership and sales & marketing to identify opportunities for innovation
- Travel as needed to company facilities and customers
- Work with customers to resolve and prevent quality issues
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry (or similar) is required and an advanced technical degree is desired
- Experience in custom polymer formulations of thermoplastic materials. PET, PE, PP experience helpful, as is experience working with packaging applications.
- Experience working with customers, vendors and internal commercial team
- Ability to drive innovation and assume role as an SME
- Experience in hiring, developing, training and managing R&D personnel
